


Growing Up and Other Family Bonding Activities

by maze-of-memories-8 (fandomgarbage622868)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Chan is the best dad, Did I mention fluff?, Family Feels, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I'm addicted to SKZ Family AUs so I wrote one and that's all this is, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, family au, it's just fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:20:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27503713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomgarbage622868/pseuds/maze-of-memories-8
Summary: Chan and his two sons Hyunjin and Jeongin figure out life together as the two boys grow into their mixed up teen years complete with a heaping serving of self-discovery and learning what being family truly means.
Relationships: (Platonic) Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin, Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: All characters that are not members of skz are original characters made up for the sake of the story. If their names happen to be names of idols, actors, or any other Korean celebrity/public figure, that is merely a coincidence.  
> No character that is not a member of skz is based on a real person.

**_Chan_ **

The alarm clock on Chan’s dark wood bedside table sprung to life, blasting it’s annoying siren sounds all throughout the room forcing Chan awake. The brunette man cursed under his breath as he attempted to sit up from his position laying on his stomach. A weight on top of Chan’s outstretched arm stopped him in his tracks, however. “Dad… why do you always have to wake up at like 3?” he heard the weight mutter tiredly.

“Jeongin, you’re starting middle school today, we talked about you sneaking into my bed.” Chan huffed before lightly pushing Jeongin off of him to reach for the alarm, only to hear the blaring of said alarm stop mid ring. Chan curiously glanced up, only to see that it wasn’t only Jeongin who had weaseled his way into his bed, but Hyunjin did as well. Chan gave his best attempt at a  _ ‘You know better’ _ look at Hyunjin, but he presumed that his tiredness probably stopped the look from having any real bite. 

“Jeongin had a bad dream.” Was Hyunjin’s only response. Chan began to ask all the questions the supposed ‘answer’ filled his head with but he decided it was far too early to go through it with his sarcastic teenaged son. Chan then fully managed to remove Jeongin from on top of him, much to the dismay of the boy who had already fallen back to sleep. “If you’re going to make coffee, make a cup for me.” He heard Hyunjin call out after him, causing a small laugh to form on his lips. 

Chan fully pushed himself up from the bed, his joints cracking loudly as he did so. “You’ll get coffee once you learn to sleep in your own bed.” Chan said back, causing an exasperated sigh to escape the fifteen year old’s lips. Chan didn’t really fault the kids for wanting to sleep in his bed, if he was being totally honest. The last several years had been really hard on them, all three of them. Chan and his ex split only to have her attempt to sue him for custody, but not because she wanted her sons, but rather because she just wanted to beat Chan at something and shove it in his face. This resulted in Chan now having full custody, and a restraining order against his ex, which she had broken on several occasions just to scream at him about anything she could think about. Once, about 4 years ago when Hyunjin was 11 and Jeongin was only 9, she had somehow broken into the apartment in the middle of the night. She didn’t really do anything, really just woke the kids and Chan up by drunkenly bumping into every wall and cursing loudly when she did, but the experience of watching as their dad had to call the cops on their mother was definitely a traumatic one for both of them. He hadn’t spoken to her since that day, he wished wherever she was, she was doing better, but he feared reaching out would only reopen the wound he worked so hard to heal. He shook the depressing thought of the past out of his head in favor of heading into the bathroom attached to his bedroom and starting his morning routine. 

\--

As Chan turned the water of the shower off and stepped out of the tiled stall, he smiled at the faint sound of his sons arguing over who got to use the shower next. A twinge of love flowed through his heart at just the thought of knowing his boys were right outside of the door. “Dad! Tell Jeongin I get the shower first because I’m older!” He heard Hyunjin shout through the door.

“No, tell Hyunjin that I get it first because my school starts earlier!” Jeongin shouted back before Chan was ever even given a chance to respond to Hyunjin’s initial response. It was at times like this that Chan wished their little apartment was slightly less,  _ little _ . While the place is technically listed as 2 bedroom, 2 bath, the second bathroom is actually a water closet consisting only of a toilet and a sink, meaning the only shower was the one in his ensuite bathroom. “Dad!” Jeongin called again, a soft knocking being heard as he desperately attempted to win the argument with his older brother. 

Chan shook his head with a small smile on his lips before finishing to get ready for work and opening the door to his angered sons. “Well… who gets it next?” Hyunjin said annoyment clear in his tone. 

“Hyunjin,” Chan started but was interrupted by Hyunjin valiantly throwing his hands up and cheering about being the one chosen. “Let me finish before you start cheering. I was going to say, Hyunjin, you should let your younger brother go first so he has more time to get ready since his school starts earlier than yours.” Chan smirked at the look of betrayal on his son’s face. He loved his sons more than he thought it was possible to love another human and he couldn’t help but smile at every moment he was lucky enough to share with them. Waking up next to them, no matter how annoying because he knew that at the ages of 13 and 15 they should be sleeping in their own beds, filled him with unexplainable joy. Hearing their voices as they bickered through the walls, watching them while they silently did their homework or played on their phones, all of it, it reminded Chan that although many of his past experiences weren’t 100% favorable, they were important because they brought him here, to his sons who were his world. Jeongin smiled largely at his older brother, his eyes forming two fox-like crescents before he raced past his father and into the bathroom, closing the door with a sly smile to his brother. 

Hyunjin gave an angry look to Chan, one Chan knew wouldn’t last long after he said his next sentence, “Are you nervous to start high school today?” 

Hyunjin’s annoyed temperament quickly shifted into one of confidence as he began to proudly boast to his father about how he is indeed not nervous one bit because he and Jisung are in the same class and nothing could go wrong with his best friend at his side. “You and Jisung are in the same class?” Chan asked with a tone of surprise and intrigue, despite the fact he already knew this information from Jisung’s father, his own best friend Changbin. Hyunjin made a sound of affirmation as he happily followed behind his father while he wandered into the kitchen and began to make breakfast for the family. Chan slipped a simple black apron over the suit he had already put on for work before grabbing all the needed materials to make pancakes, using pre-mixed batter. “I feel bad for your teachers then.” Chan said in a half-joking-half-serious voice. Hyunjin gave him an  _ ‘oh please’ _ look while he settled himself onto a barstool on the other side of the counter Chan was using. 

“Hey! We help each other concentrate.” Hyunjin beamed as he talked about his best friend and partner in crime, Jisung. They had known each other their whole lives basically due to Chan and Changbin being best friends. Chan nodded along to Hyunjin as he continued his attempt at pancakes. “-You should have been there, dad, it was hilarious! The whole cup of milk came out of his nose because he was laughing so hard! I told him not to take that big of a sip!” Hyunjin absentmindedly laughed as he told his story about the time he made Jisung laugh so hard that milk came out of his nose. Chan found it funny that Hyunjin began the story with ‘you should have been there’ when Chan was indeed there, it happened in their apartment when the boys were probably the age Jeongin is now. He figured the young boy was just so caught up with spending time with his best friend that he simply forgot about his old father’s presence, like most teenagers do around their friends. It was then that the two heard the shower shut off and Hyunjin ran off to go get ready, his spot soon replaced by Jeongin, who had much less happy and humorous topics on the brain than his brother. 

Jeongin had been best friends with a boy named Donghyun since kindergarten, they were almost as close as Hyunjin and Jisung were, but unfortunately for Jeongin he didn’t get the same happy ending of them starting a new school in the same class that Hyunjin did. On the pair’s last day of primary school, Donghyun dropped the bomb on Jeongin that his mother had been offered a high paying job in Canada and that his family would be moving that month. Jeongin dealt with it well at first and he even saw his friend off at the airport with hugs and promises of keeping in touch, but as time ticked closer to today, the day he was starting middle school, he became more aloof and sad about the whole thing. “So, how are you feeling, bud? Nervous?” Chan asked cautiously as Jeongin sat down on the barstool Hyunjin had been sitting on before while he told his milk story. Jeongin merely shrugged, a response that Chan expected but still sighed at. Chan continued to make pancakes for the family by cracking the specified amount of eggs into a bowl and attempting to whisk them.

“Dad?” Jeongin quietly spoke up, his eyes pointed downwards. Chan made a sound, encouraging Jeongin to continue. “Do you even know how to make pancakes?” A small, mischievous smile played at his lips.

Chan raised an eyebrow at the young boy giving him a nod and simply turning around to the sink and washing all egg remnants off his hands, all the while muttering under his breath about how “You wanna play it like that? Ok we can play it like that, kid”. Chan grabbed a small dish towel and dried his hands off nonchalantly while he walked around the counter and towards his youngest son, who giggled in anticipation as he knew exactly how his father intended to enact his revenge. Chan simply set the towel down once he got to Jeongin before beginning to mercilessly tickle the boy, causing the 13 year old to laugh wildly, his braced smile showing widely as he attempted to no avail to push the large hands of his father away. Hyunjin then entered the room and Chan smirked at him. “Help me teach your brother a lesson in speaking nicely to his elders?” He asked with an eyebrow raised and Hyunjin immediately returned the same smirk as his father before running over and tickling his brother’s sides.

“S-S-STOP IT! I CAN’T BREATHE!” The boy laughed out, continuing to slap his father and brother’s hands away from him. 

“Alright let’s give it a rest.” Chan said with a large smile, stilling his fingers, only to lift his hand to Jeongin’s bangs and mess them up playfully. It was at that moment a knock came to the door. “I’ll get it, Hyunjin you stir the eggs.” Chan instructed, the large fond smile still present on his lips. Hyunjin nodded with a playful salute before doing what he was told to. 

Chan glanced through the peephole on the door, expecting it to be his landlord wondering why he was late on his payments, but he was surprised to see it was a person he had never met. They were lean with long legs and a blonde mess of hair that was styled into a mullet of sorts. He was cute, if Chan was being honest. He flung the door open and his heart skipped a beat because,  _ damn _ , if he thought he was cute before when looking at him through that fisheye peephole, then he sure as hell thought he was cute now looking at him in person. For a moment he forgot how to speak and his words got jumbled in his now dry throat. 

“Uh.. Sorry if I’m bothering you but I just moved in and I was wondering where the laundry room was?”  _ ‘Damn. Damn. Damn.’ _ Was all that Chan’s mind had the ability to produce.  _ ‘Not only is he cute, but his voice… damn.’  _ It was around then that Jeongin wondered what had rendered his dad both speechless and completely frozen so he wandered his way to the door as well. 

“Hi, I’m Jeongin, this is my dad Chan.” He introduced himself with a friendly smile on his face. He stuck his hand out which the stranger shook with a smile.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Felix. I just moved here from Sydney, Australia.” He smiled wider, his eyes sparkling. 

“No way! My dad is from there, right dad?” Jeongin smiled up at his father, who was now slightly busted out of his ‘cute stranger with deep voice’ stupor. 

“Uhm, yeah I am. I moved here when I was like 10. The laundry room is in the basement, by the way. If you press the basement button in the elevator, it’ll take you straight there.” Chan smiled and Felix nodded at his words to show he understood. 

“Wow great to meet another Aussie, and thanks for the tip about the elevator.” He smiled again, filling Chan’s heart with warmth.  _ ‘Fuck I don’t even know this guy, how the hell does he have this effect on me already?’  _ Chan yelled in his head. “So do you like to bake, or do you always wear an apron over your business suit?” Felix joked while motioning towards Chan’s outfit choice. 

“You should never let my dad near an oven, unfortunately we have to because he’s the only chef we got.” Jeongin said in a fake sad voice, looking down dejectedly, earning him another small visit from the tickle monster. 

“Go see how your brother is doing on the pancake batter, smart guy.” Chan playfully commanded sending Jeongin back to the kitchen.

“Oh so you have two kids?” Felix asked with a genuine smile. Chan nodded with the largest of ‘proud papa’ smiles before responding verbally.

“Yup. Jeongin’s my youngest, he’s got an older brother named Hyunjin.” Chan said in a friendly tone, still attempting to fully slow his heart rate down to a normal pace. “And the apron is because I was trying to make pancakes as a treat for the boys since it’s Hyunjin’s first day in high school and Jeongin’s first day in middle school.”

Felix nodded again, “Oh ok, then why is Hyunjin the one in the kitchen?” He asked with a playful smirk, clearly just messing with Chan.

“Messing with me on your first day, huh? You fit in already.” Chan joked with a jovial hand pat on Felix’s shoulder and a wink. “Anyways, it was great meeting you, but I should go make sure the boys get to school on time.” Chan gave his most genuine smile, which Felix returned in ease.

“You too! Have a good day.” He said before giving a kind wave and calling into the apartment to say goodbye to the boys, wishing them a good first day at school. Chan dreamily closed the door, the sound snapping him back into reality.

  
_ ‘When will I get to see him again?’ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All characters that are not members of skz are original characters made up for the sake of the story. If their names happen to be names of idols, actors, or any other Korean celebrity/public figure, that is merely a coincidence.  
> No character that is not a member of skz is based on a real person

**_Hyunjin_ **

_ ‘Classroom 1-3. Classroom 1-3. Classroom-’ _ Hyunjin repeated in his head as he walked towards where he was told he could find the first year classrooms. He hoped he would get to meet up with Jisung and find the classroom together but unfortunately Jisung texted him that he had to get to school early because his dad had to get to work early, so he was already in the classroom, wherever it was. Hyunjin continued to wander aimlessly, accidentally wandering down the hallway where the third year classes were, gaining him a lot of attention from older students who he could faintly hear whispering about the cutely lost first year. “Are you lost?” a girl with long brown hair that was slightly curled at the end asked him as she approached him cautiously, as if she was trying not to scare him, a group of her friends standing closely behind her.

He nodded politely at her, “Uhm, yes I’m supposed to be in class 1-3 but I can’t even find the first year classrooms.” He said shyly. She giggled slightly and he just hoped she wasn’t laughing  _ at  _ him, it's not like he’s the first freshman to get lost on their first day. 

“Well,” she paused to read the name tag pinned to his uniform, “Hyunjin, whoever pointed you this way was playing a prank on you, the first year classrooms are on the other side of the building.” She said seriously. His brows furrowed together at her words. He could faintly hear the girls standing behind her laughing, but he ignored it in favor of slightly panicking about being late on his first day. 

“It’s not cute to pick on kids, Hana.” A voice rang from behind him, Hyunjin slowly turned to see a third year student who was shorter than himself, but not by much. He had brown hair styled down in the form of bangs that swept just over his eyes. He had an unamused look on his face like he was in a bad mood. Hyunjin had to admit, he was quite…  _ pretty _ . Despite the serious and stern look on his face, his eyes shined as he spoke and Hyunjin would be lying if he said he didn’t find it attractive in some way.

“What the hell do you care, Minho?” She sighed at the other student as if Hyunjin wasn’t there anymore, flipping her perfectly styled hair over her thin shoulder, her group of friends mirroring the annoyed look as if all 4 of them doing the same face would make it more powerful.

“Kid, the first year classrooms are in the next hallway over.” The third year who Hyunjin gathered was ‘Minho’ said to him before all but shoving him away from the girl and her friends with a hand on his shoulder. Minho guided Hyunjin to the hallway before giving a quick wave goodbye and turning to walk back to his class. Hyunjin attempted to shout a word of gratitude, but Minho simply waved his hand like it was nothing before continuing to walk away.

Hyunjin didn’t really consider himself poetic or anything, but the only word he could think of when he walked into his classroom and saw his best friend Jisung, sat next to the window, head thrown back and laughing at some joke that one of their classmates had made was  _ ethereal _ . The way the light shined on his features, and the sound of his genuine laughter, did things to Hyunjin’s heart that he wasn’t in any way prepared for. “Jinnie! You’re here!” Jisung called out when he saw him standing in the doorway. Hyunjin attempted a smile in return, but it probably came out like a grimace if he was being honest with himself. “I saved you a seat next to me!” Jisung called out again and Hyunjin’s heart did another little flip. He quickly walked across the room and took his spot next to Jisung, “What took you so long?” Jisung asked curiously while taking a bite from an apple.

“I got lost, no surprise.” Hyunjin chuckled, he did have a reputation amongst his friends of constantly ending himself up lost or wandering in completely wrong directions. Jisung opened his mouth to respond, probably with a joke or a sarcastic remark along the lines of  _ ‘Wow, who would’ve guessed?’  _ but he was interrupted by Daehyun, one of the boys' classmates from middle school, running up to them.

“I-is it true?” He asked, out of breath from running. The two looked at him in confusion, encouraging him to continue what he was saying, since they had no idea what it was he was saying. “Is it true that Hyunjin got approached by a third year girl?” Hyunjin’s eyes popped completely out of his head at the notion, and at the fact that news can travel that fast. Hyunjin cautiously glanced at Jisung, almost as if to weigh his reaction only to see his friend’s mouth wide open and his eyes bugging out just as much as Hyunjin’s probably were. “Well? Is it true Hyunjin?” Daehyun asked again.

Hyunjin licked his lips subconsciously before nodding slightly, “Technically yeah but-” Hyunjin started but was interrupted, which he wasn’t surprised by, what he was surprised by was who it was that interrupted him and what they said when they did. 

“Was she pretty?” Jisung asked suddenly, the initial shock of the situation still prevalent on his face although his words didn’t reflect it. Hyunjin gawked at his best friend who simply shrugged. “I mean we’re in high school now so…” He trailed off. The atmosphere around the pair suddenly became heavy, which had never happened with him and Jisung before. Did Jisung want a girlfriend now that they were in high school? Why does this surprise Hyunjin, he’s a guy, it's normal to want things like that, right? Why does Hyunjin even care? He’s his best friend, sure, but why does he  _ dread _ the thought so much? Why can’t he think of anything else?

  
_ Why does it  _ hurt  _ Hyunjin so much to think of Jisung with a girlfriend? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this chapter is way shorter than the previous one, sorry for that but there was just so much stuff I had to set up in the first chapter so it ended up being a lot longer than I intended. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this little look into Hyunjin’s life!  
> And we met Minho! So let’s recap our characters then, shall we?  
> Chan: Father of Jeongin and Hyunjin; aged 35  
> Hyunjin: Son of Chan; aged 15  
> Jeongin: Son of Chan; aged 13  
> Jisung: Best friend of Hyunjin; Son of Changbin; aged 15  
> Changbin: Best friend of Chan; Father of Jisung; aged 33  
> Felix: New tenant in the same apartment building as Chan, Hyunjin, and Jeongin; aged 32  
> Minho: Third Year student at the same high school as Hyunjin and Jisung; aged 17  
> And now all we have to wait for is Seungmin ;)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: First chapter: done!  
> Each of the first 3 chapters are going to be told from a different family member’s perspective, to set up that person’s specific journey for the story. Play close attention to the last line of each for hints of what is mostly gonna happen in that character’s stories ;) (they’re probably not that hard to figure out tho lol). Chapters after the first 3 will likely switch around in perspective, by the way. I have up to chapter 4 written so far so the 10 chapters stated is a guess based on how the pacing is so far, but I'm confident that will probably be it.   
> I plan on updating once a week but the day might be flexible.   
> Also a quick guide to all the important characters introduced/mentioned so far:  
> Chan: Father of Jeongin and Hyunjin; aged 35  
> Hyunjin: Son of Chan; aged 15  
> Jeongin: Son of Chan; aged 13  
> Jisung: Best friend of Hyunjin; Son of Changbin; aged 15  
> Changbin: Best friend of Chan; Father of Jisung; aged 33  
> Felix: New tenant in the same apartment building as Chan, Hyunjin, and Jeongin; aged 32  
> Don’t worry Minho and Seungmin are in the story too, we just haven’t met them yet ;)


End file.
